Western Freedom

Associated Press:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich served notice Friday that he has no intention of quitting over his corruption arrest, declaring: “I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong.” The forceful three-minute speech marked the first time the former amateur boxer directly addressed the allegations since his arrest 10 days earlier.With it, he made it clear that removing him could be uglier and more drawn-out than anyone imagined just a week ago, when the governor’s career appeared to be in its final hours and nearly the entire political establishment seemed to be holding a death watch.

“I’m not going to quit a job the people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob,” a composed and deliberate-sounding Blagojevich said at his downtown Chicago office building. He took no questions from reporters and immediately left the room after wishing his listeners, “Merry Christmas, happy holidays.”

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New York Times:
The Illinois State House voted unanimously on Monday evening to begin efforts to impeach Rod R. Blagojevich, the Democratic governor arrested last week in a web of corruption, including, prosecutors say, efforts to make money off the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Michael J. Madigan, the powerful House speaker in a capital where Democrats control both the House and Senate, appointed a committee that will begin gathering evidence and testimony on Tuesday in an “abuse of power” case against Mr. Blagojevich.

The lawmakers voted 113 to 0 to go forward with Mr. Madigan’s plan. “We’re going to proceed with all due speed, but we are going to make sure that what we do is done correctly,” said Mr. Madigan, who like many others in state government has long sparred with Mr. Blagojevich and has fielded calls for Mr. Blagojevich’s impeachment long before now.

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The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush, has been inflicted multiple injuries, among which journalists mention broken ribs and an arm.
Although, as Reuters announced on Tuesday, was given a bravery award on Monday by a Libyan charity group chaired by leader Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter.

The charity group Wa Attassimou also urged the Iraqi government to release television reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi after he was detained on Sunday for hurling footwear at Bush and calling the president a “dog” — both severe insults in the Middle East.

“Waatassimou group has taken the decision to give  the courage award … because what he did represents a victory for human rights across the world,” the group, headed by Aicha Gaddafi, said in a statement.

The group said the Iraqi authorities should honour the journalist for his actions.

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One can watch live results in real time at special CNN page.

There will be also CNN’s projections on elections results. They say that:

To project elections, CNN and its election experts use scientific statistical procedures to make estimates of the final vote count in each race. CNN will broadcast a projected winner only after an extensive review of data from a number of sources.

“America’s moment of truth” - so UK Guardian names current american elections. Recent estimations show that Obama’s victory is more probable:

With all the main polls putting Obama well ahead, political analysts from right and left said they expected him to easily reach the 270 of 538 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, and many predicted a landslide, with him taking 350 or more electoral seats. (source)

This campaign has already become the most expensive one in all America’s history: candidates spent more than $2 bln up to now .